College

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

By the way, has anyone heard of the University of Southern California or New York University? These are two schools I really want to go to.

Or could anyone suggest to me schools that are good in economics or philosophy (in the states, of course)? I'd really appreciate that?

I'd rather not specify. It's a fairly well-known business college in an affluent college town, if that has any relevancy.

College is definitely not easier than high school. If you look at the statistics, a very large number of people who enter college drop out before their junior year.

Have you decided on a major yet? And are you getting any scholarships? If the answer to both is "No", you should strongly consider a community college for the first two years.
The only business college-college I know of is Babson, which surely doesn't drop out so many people. But it is in a pretty affluent town, isn't it?

I guess my friends were wrong? lol Even at places like Vanderbilt and UNC, I've heard that phrase tossed around. But thanks for the heads up.

lol, there's no way that I could go to community college. I think only two people out of the 400 people go graduated went to community college. I've been on campus of one before, and it's not really a pretty place. Actually, I'm going this summer and next year to take a few classes. But I think there's hundreds of schools out there clamoring to give me a full-ride, so that isn't the problem.

My only piece of advice is even if you don't know what you want to do, pick a major right from the outset. It's so much easier trying to transition from one to another than to start off undeclared and try to work your way into one.
I've got one picked out already, so it's no big deal. ;)
 
...Not in one yet. Currently two days of exams away from the end of sophomore year in high school.

On the other hand, I was stupid enough to put down "yes, I WANT colleges to email me" on standardized tests when I tend to do VERY well on standardized tests (I got a 30 or something on the sophomore year precursor to the ACT, I think it's the ACT Plan...there was another test that was meant for juniors sophomores take as practice that I got above the national semi-finalist cutoff for [even though I have to be a junior to be eligible for national semifinalist status])...so yeah, good thing G-mail has plenty of memory to spare.

Did anyone else have that experience in high school?
 
The people at NYU are weird as shit, but it's also an extremely good school.

Then again the people are weird as fuck.
I don't think NYU is that great of a school. The people I know there didn't do very well at school. (Kind of like me, I guess) I'd just like to go, because they have a program where you can both design your major and take classes at their business school, which is actually extremely good compared to the school as a whole. I don't think any school that lets you so readily design your major has such a good business school as well.

But if that's the case, I'd really fit in. I'd totally love to become a hipster.

...Not in one yet. Currently two days of exams away from the end of sophomore year in high school.

On the other hand, I was stupid enough to put down "yes, I WANT colleges to email me" on standardized tests when I tend to do VERY well on standardized tests (I got a 30 or something on the sophomore year precursor to the ACT, I think it's the ACT Plan...there was another test that was meant for juniors sophomores take as practice that I got above the national semi-finalist cutoff for [even though I have to be a junior to be eligible for national semifinalist status])...so yeah, good thing G-mail has plenty of memory to spare.

Did anyone else have that experience in high school?
Yeah.

I think it's kind of gets my hopes up, but then I realize neither Brown, Williams, nor Columbia actually want me. It's such a terrible thing to do.

I'm going to be a national merit semi-finalist in the fall. The cut-off varies from state to state. It's usually about 215-225.

Good luck.
 
Yeah.

I think it's kind of gets my hopes up, but then I realize neither Brown, Williams, nor Columbia actually want me. It's such a terrible thing to do.

I'm going to be a national merit semi-finalist in the fall. The cut-off varies from state to state. It's usually about 215-225.
Yeah, it was about 214 in Ohio I think, and I got 222 or 224 or something. I got bragging rights for a day.

I plan on having a programming-related major, so I'm looking for those kinds of colleges.

Also, in English class we got a yellow sheet talking about the possibility of going to Great Britain for college. It's an interesting idea-you apparently only have to take your major, and colleges are apparently rated.
 

Yuggles

hey that second guy isn't too bad
I'm going to Trent University (Ontario, Canada) next year because I got a full scholarship. I figure that I at least won't be losing anything even if I don't like it. I'm taking business/economics/computer science, majors are decided second year.

However, the school is somewhat subpar. I'm a bit worried that I won't have as much clout as someone who went to Queens or Laurier, etc.
 

Layell

Alas poor Yorick!
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Well I've finished my first year Theatre Studies at York University (Toronto). I suppose the most notable thing we have right now is that we started the slut walks that have been happening everywhere because of one dumb cop during an event.

Our entire fine arts faculty is amazing, and quite well known. How it works in theatre is that the first year is a general year and at the end there are auditions and interviews if you want to get into more specifics fields (acting, production, playwrighting). I was accepted into Devised Theatre which in a loose term is the process of creating performances and has a heavy theatre design background of courses with it.

I'm in summer school right now to get rid of some courses outside my major. Right now I'm taking a year long poli-sci course compressed into six weeks. I decided I wanted one summer where I don't work and with rehearsals in addition to lectures and studio classes it helps.
 

supermarth64

Here I stand in the light of day
is a Contributor Alumnus
NYU Stern is a good school IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND. One of the worst things you can do is get a crippling debt when you get out of college and need to spend the next 10-20 years of your life paying it off, maybe longer in this economy. Also, NYU is very self-centered. Since it's in New York City, everyone kinda does their own thing. Stern is especially backstabbish because it's like 70% Asian or something so you might feel out of place if you're not Asian.

USC is solid but idk too much about it. My friend's going there in the fall. All I know is it has great weather.

UMich has a solid econ program if you want to apply there.
 
Im gonna be a Senior at University of Connecticut. I dont want to repeat some of the information already described, but I do have one piece of advice for you.

Whatever you choose to study in college, do so because YOU enjoy it. NOT because you feel like you have to, or because you are in it to make money, or any other reason. I wasted my first two years pursuing a career path that did not interest me only because it was 'expected' of me by my family. There are so many distractions in college, if you aren't studying something that you are truly interested in, then those distractions will get the best of you.

Enjoy it.
 

Delta 2777

Machampion
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By the way, has anyone heard of the University of Southern California or New York University? These are two schools I really want to go to.
Just wanted to say that it's really funny your two main choices are on the opposite sides of the country, lol.

I'm a junior in HS myself, and I really have no idea where I want to go. My main interest is somewhere up in Boston, preferrably BC (although I'm not sure my GPA is high enough - I'm a pretty average student). I don't really like the sound of NYU due to the lack of campus, and I'm not really a NY kind of guy (also too much diversity.... does that make me racist?). I also visited Villanova, which is also a good school but really preppy as well. My parents have the money to send me to almost any college I'd choose but I still don't want to go to an expensive college like that "just because I can".

Anyone else go to/have friends who go to BC/BU/TCNJ/Bucknell/Lehigh?
 

tennisace

not quite too old for this, apparently
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I'm visiting Brown this summer! I really want to go, but I doubt I could get in. Hopefully, I'll get a admissions person who likes my essay.
Can we get some stats? I assume you're looking at mid-top tier schools with Ivies as your ultimate reach. I made the mistake of not applying to more mid-range schools, and I ended up only accepted to one non-safety...

Which was Tufts. Which I love. I strongly suggest taking a look at it, it compares favorably to the Ivies in terms of academics, plus we have one of the best IR programs in the country, with the Fletcher Graduate School right on campus. (Hint: Michelle Kwan is getting her masters there. My roommate actually got a chance to meet her since he worked in Fletcher's library. Just saying.)

Currently I'm undecided, got out of engineering when I realized it sucked balls but thats just me.

Edit: @Delta: Jimbo goes to Lehigh.
 
I applied Early Decision to Johns Hopkins and got in! Looking back, I kinda wish I had applied to other schools, since Hopkins is expensive as all fuck and not really all that great in terms of social scene, but I'm still relatively happy here. I came here for the academics, and Hopkins at least delivers quite well on that front. I've truly enjoyed all my classes, as they've been both challenging and interesting. Hopkins is also the place to go if you want to get involved in undergrad research-- I'm doing research over at the medical campus, and it's awesome!

Basically, if you're pre-med, you should definitely consider JHU! :)
 

icepick

she brings the rain
is a Top Artist Alumnus
Can we get some stats? I assume you're looking at mid-top tier schools with Ivies as your ultimate reach. I made the mistake of not applying to more mid-range schools, and I ended up only accepted to one non-safety...

Same here. I only got into two of my non-safety schools (Johns Hopkins and Chicago) and ended up going to my safety school anyways (Maryland, which lets me use my AP credits and allows me to easily double major).
 
NYU Stern is a good school IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND. One of the worst things you can do is get a crippling debt when you get out of college and need to spend the next 10-20 years of your life paying it off, maybe longer in this economy. Also, NYU is very self-centered. Since it's in New York City, everyone kinda does their own thing. Stern is especially backstabbish because it's like 70% Asian or something so you might feel out of place if you're not Asian.

USC is solid but idk too much about it. My friend's going there in the fall. All I know is it has great weather.

UMich has a solid econ program if you want to apply there.
I don't want to do Stern, but rather Gallatin, which is even less price effective. But my parents will probably pay for it, so all's good.

I think Mich is good, but I heard that the in-state people aren't really that bright, so I'd rather not go there.

Can we get some stats? I assume you're looking at mid-top tier schools with Ivies as your ultimate reach. I made the mistake of not applying to more mid-range schools, and I ended up only accepted to one non-safety...

Which was Tufts. Which I love. I strongly suggest taking a look at it, it compares favorably to the Ivies in terms of academics, plus we have one of the best IR programs in the country, with the Fletcher Graduate School right on campus. (Hint: Michelle Kwan is getting her masters there. My roommate actually got a chance to meet her since he worked in Fletcher's library. Just saying.)

Currently I'm undecided, got out of engineering when I realized it sucked balls but thats just me.

Edit: @Delta: Jimbo goes to Lehigh.
I'm visiting Tufts too! I'm on the fence at applying or not, so I think my visit will help me make my decision.

Here are my unweighted stats:

3.6 unweighted GPA - really mediocre grades
GREAT rigor - six (and a half) AP classes so far; another six to go
Top 6-7% of class rank (really good public)
34 ACT - retaking
Haven't taken the SAT yet - taking it Saturday
National Merit Finalist - top 0.5% or so
Asian female (lol)
 

Myzozoa

to find better ways to say what nobody says
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My impression when i applied was that NYU is the school you apply to if:
you're looking to get into New York City at all costs
you want a big school

To me college is about going to where you'd be most happy, I worked fairly hard in high school, and after I applied to colleges I began to realize that all that had made me a relatively unhappy person. The reason I had worked hard was out of fear: everyone told me it was impossible to get into the really good schools, and it wasn't not even close. I was accepted at Berkeley and Princeton, and I ended up at Santa Cruz. I knew wanted a hippy school and when I visited Santa Cruz it had 2 great things, a beautiful campus/area and one of the coolest towns.

As for Princeton, there was no money for it, and if there had been, would it really have been well spent?

I think that the most overlooked places for college are small liberal arts schools, Haverford, Reed, Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Williams, etc. The people I have met from those schools have all been very cool, and for me college wasn't about getting a degree it was about having fun.

@chaos akita, i just read your info, and its very similar to my sister who applied this year (white female instead of asian, same gpa and great test scores/Ap's) she was really screwed out of going to the good back-east schools that she wanted to go to (wait-listed and then not taken), and didn't get accepted at any of the good UC's, my advice is to apply to lots of schools and worry about visiting them after you find out which ones you get accepted at.
 

Firestorm

I did my best, I have no regrets!
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ProTip: No matter where you go, do co-op if they offer it.

Also, out of state tuition in the US scares the shit out of me. I don't know how you all do it.
 
College if you're doing something interesting is far easier than High School (where everything is boring as shit), assuming you're above average intelligence anyway.
 
I go to the University of Oklahoma and I absolutely love college. The freedom is the best thing that college offers. Of course, that freedom can also seriously screw up your study habits. But if you balance the two it can be an awesome experience for sure.
 
Either you saw SFU Surrey or I am so very confused right now.
Man I knew people hate the concrete but I didn't think it was this bad.

Yes, I actually enjoy the giant gray pillars and windows that look like they have bars, I have no idea why.

The whole thing just looks kinda spacy to me (plus the campus itself is really nice and there are awesome views)
 
ProTip: No matter where you go, do co-op if they offer it.

Also, out of state tuition in the US scares the shit out of me. I don't know how you all do it.
Most schools here don't seem to offer it.

Well, get a scholarship. If you're of decent intelligence, it's pretty easy to get one somewhere.
 
I don't think NYU is that great of a school. The people I know there didn't do very well at school. (Kind of like me, I guess) I'd just like to go, because they have a program where you can both design your major and take classes at their business school, which is actually extremely good compared to the school as a whole. I don't think any school that lets you so readily design your major has such a good business school as well.

But if that's the case, I'd really fit in. I'd totally love to become a hipster.
NYU have a good law school, I know that much. My first law lecturer ended up getting an offer at NYU and Harvard and took the formet to do her Masters.


@Thread: As far as choosing colleges goes, I think the process is slightly different for the USA because you guys have so many more colleges than we do. I would really recommend checking out the campuses before making a decision where to go. In fact, I'd say the important factors to consider are the following:

- Accreditation/Certification of the degree by the relevant professional body. This is only relevant if you're planning to take a vocational degree. For instance, landscape architecture degrees are only accredited by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects at UNSW, Canberra University, but not USyd or ANU.

- Reputation of the relevant school within the college. More relevant for the highly competitive professional/vocational degrees, but it's still worthwhile knowing whether or not your college has a good reputation in optical physics if that's what you plan to study. If they don't, you might get to study physics but with only limited access to what you're really interested in. In science and engineering, too, it also means that the school likely has less funding for those areas and hence less opportunities to research that field.

- Quality of the learning/degree. Is it giving you the opportunity to do things you want to be doing/studying?

- Campus Quality. This comprises several things. Is the campus a nice environment, with greenspace and nice architecture, or is it a backwater slum? What are the library/study areas like? Are there good places to eat/get coffee on campus (both in quality and price)? Are there local or on-campus bars/nightclubs to go out? Other convenient entertainment venues (bands/movies/whatever).

- Student Services. Often overlooked, but very important. This includes things like Student Union services (i.e. representation), legal advice, co-operatives for food or textbooks, job search help, house/housemate-finding, and also clubs and society support (very important for social life, I feel!)

Those are in no particular order, you just have to assess each college on each one and then weigh them up to make the decision.


As far as picking a major, it's a common mistake to do two things:

a) Pick a major because it's 'easy money/good job'. The problem with doing this is that if you're not interested in the work (e.g. you picked engineering when your interests are in literature), you won't get the marks to get you into those 'good jobs' and you may not even finish. Typically, the high-money careers are also incredibly competitive, so there's no real truth to the idea.

b) Pick a high prestige major because to avoid 'wasting your high school marks'. This is similar to the above. Ultimately, if you don't want to be a doctor, doing medicine is just going to waste all of your time and crush your spirit as you don't want to be doing it. You are much better off doing what you want to do in the first place, especially because what seems to happen quite a lot is people will start doing Med, get three years in, and then end up switching into the degree they really wanted, and just be three years behind.


Ultimately, if you do anything well enough, you will get a job in it. You can be successful and wealthy doing what you're good at, and what you're good at is usually what you enjoy.
 
NYU have a good law school, I know that much. My first law lecturer ended up getting an offer at NYU and Harvard and took the formet to do her Masters.
Well everyone knows that. In fact, one reason their law school is so good is that they can sell an overpriced diploma to 20k students (and even more gullible graduate students) to fund their good graduate programs. (Law, philosophy, etc.)
 
I just found out that I would need to complete a handful of remedial math classes before I even start college and I really tried my best to learn math, too. But eventually I couldn't even tell what I was looking at.

I had a good laugh at myself and went back to playing Super Metroid.
 
asian female.

affirmative action, you get in wherever you want.
lol no

Sorry, but this has to be one of the most ignorant comments I've heard in a while.

This would be totally true if I wanted to go to an engineering school in the middle of Podunk, Nowhere. However, for pretty much every other school, females are the majority and guys are the ones getting affirmative action. Also, Asians pretty much get screwed over in any top-ranked school. I can show you the evidence if you want in a PM.
 

Layell

Alas poor Yorick!
is a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Top Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
i expect a detailed report in my inbox by the morning.

along with a sandwich.
I will give you an article right here regarding the asian part at least.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/10/too-asian/

It's from the Canadian magazine Macleans, they to do yearly issues on university rankings in Canada and other noteworthy items from postsecondary education.

To get back on track trying to know your profs is always a good idea. Most of mine know me, I've been at a bar with one too. Then again fine arts seems to always be the exceptional cases.

EDIT: Oh look male to female ratio in USA colleges http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-10-19-male-college-cover_x.htm
 

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